The Lannister’s win of Battle of Blackwater Bay secured their reign in King’s Landing and Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) has taken over as Hand of the King. His son Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) does not take his demotion well after risking his life and nearly dying his sister’s orders. Tyrion is still secretly seeing the former prostitute Shae, who is now Sansa Stark’s handmaiden. Cersei (Lena Headley) is still fretting over her lover/brother, Jamie (Nikolaj Waldau-Coster), who was taken captive by Robb Stark. Unknown to Cersei, Jaime is on his way back, escorted by by Brienne of Tarth (Gwendolyn Christie), the female soldier under orders from Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley).
Catelyn is still being treated as a prisoner by her son Robb Stark. Robb (Richard Madden) is furious with his mother for releasing Jamie behind his back which angered his men. He also has to deal with the anger of Lord Walder Frey (David Bradley), who is very peeved that Robb married Talisa (Oona Chaplin), and not one of Frey’s daughters as promised. Robb and Catelyn begin to repair their relationship when they hear that Bran and Rickon, the two youngest Starks were most likely killed by their former friend Theon Greyjoy.
Bran and Rickon are very much alive and are travelling to the Wall to find their half brother Jon Snow (Kit Harrington). They are accompanied by the giant Hodor (Kristian Nairn) and Osha (Natalia Tena). They meet the Reed siblings, Jojen and Meera, and Jojen particularly interests Bran because he has dreamt of the strange boy. Jojen (Thomas Reed) is able to tell name Bran’s seemingly magical abilities: he is a Warg, someone who can see into the future. Jojen begs him to heed to listen to what he sees while he sleeps.
Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is still on her way to Winterfell with Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey). They find themselves encircled by The Brotherhood without Banners, and meet Sandor Clegane. Sandor seems like a decent man and offers to set them free, but when his men arrive with the Hound (Rory McCann), taken captive after fleeing King’s Landing, and the Hound identifies Arya as a Stark, Clegane’s plans change. They are all taken to the secret cave where the Brotherhood hides out, and the Hound is sentenced to trial by combat. He wins the fight, and his slain opponent is brought back to life by the Brotherhood’s leader, Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), who is also a follower of Melisandre’s god. Gendry tells Arya that he plans to join the Brotherhood, but his plans are destroyed when Melisandre shows up and takes him away.
Melisandre (Carice van Houten) takes Gendry to Dragonstone where Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane)is licking his wounds following his mortifying defeat. Sir Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) shows up after nearly dying but he is thrown in a cell for speaking against Melisandre’s madness.
After Jon Snow’s capture by the Wildlings, he is taken to the King behind the Wall, Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds). Mance takes a liking to Jon, but warns him that he will be killed if he betrays the people behind the Wall. Jon gets further entangled by sleeping with Ygritte (Rose Leslie), breaking a vow of the Night’s Watch.
After the attack of the White Walkers, the Night’s Watch is in bad shape. They are once again taking refuge in Craster’s keep, but he is as horrible as ever, and the men are soon angered. Samwell Tarly meets Gillie again, the girl who begged him to help her save her young son’s life when the Men were there previously. The unnamed boy is nearly old enough to be offered as sacrifice to the White Walkers, and Gillie is very worried. Lord Commander Mormont dies when some of the Night’s Men rebel and Sam flee with Gillie and the baby, who is later also named Sam.
In Astapor, DaenerysTargaryen (Emilia Clarke) is continuing her quest to reclaim the Seven Kingdoms. Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney), the former King’s Guard who was thrown aside by Joffrey Baratheon saves her life and offers her his service, and she accepts. Jorah Mormont (Ian Glen) is also still around to advise her, and the two men flank her side as she frees slaves in every city she enters, offering them the choice to either follow her or be finally free, and also killing their old, cruel masters in retaliation of years of injustice and torture. Daenerys finally gets a massive army when she buys the Unsullied from their barbaric master and Missandei, the translator of the treaty, gets to join Daenerys in her quest and leave behind her life.
Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) is still in King’s Landing. Through a little bit of good luck she was freed of marriage to Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) when Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) became the King’s new fiancé. Margaery is infinitely more capable of handling the King’s madness and through some clever games of her own, she manages to endear Joffrey to the citizens of King’s Landing, but Cersei still deeply despises and mistrusts her. Sansa finds a friend she desperately needs in Margaery, and when Margaery and her grandmother Olenna ask if Joffrey is a good person, she overcomes her fears and tells them how horrible he really is.
Brienne and Jamie are waylaid by Bolton arms men, and Jamie loses a hand. Without his sword hand, Jamie is lost and desolate, but Brienne manages to keep him motivated. Jamie tells Bolton that Brienne has a superbly rich father, ensuring that she doesn’t get raped. He goes through a whole lot of things to try and keep her safe, showing that he has redemption in him. When Roose Bolton sends Jaime back to King’s Landing, Jaime returns and saves Brienne, establishing their unlikely friendship.
The death of Catelyn’s father brings some reconciliation between Robb and Catelyn. He agrees to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Riverrun, much to the anger of Lord Karstark, who still justifiably wants vengeance on Jamie Lannister for killing both his sons.
Petyr Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) shares the Tyrell’s hopes to marry Sansa to Loras Tyrell. Tywin is furious and intercepts, and convinces Olenna to let Loras marry Cersei instead, and this new development is not taken well at all by the Queen Regent. As reward, Petyr is sent to win the affections of Lady Lysa Arryn, the Lady of the Vale. Tywin Lannister promotes Tyrion to Master of Coin, and while he is happy with new responsibilities he is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job and his inexperience in it. Sansa becomes betrothed to Tyrion, and no one is happy about the new developments.
Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) is still being held captive and tortured. He is hopeful when a mysterious young man helps him escapes, telling him that his sister is trying to save him. His escape is futile – his saviour is actually not a saviour at all, and only sets Theon free for the sport of catching him again. Theon is castrated by his torturer.
Lord Karstark kills two young Lannisters as retribution and Robb is forced to execute him. As Karstark’s men leave Robb, he is forced to try and make amends with Walder Frey. As a peace offering, Robb’s uncle Edmure is now to marry Robb’s previous fiancé, Roslin. The wedding seems to go well, and even Frey seems like he has made peace about it.
Sam is still trying to get Gilly and her young son to safety after the massacre at Craster’s Keep. They are attacked by a White Walker, but they are saved when Sam uses the dragon glass he found on the mountains on it. Jon and Ygritte are still close and they discuss their relationship. Jojen tells Bran that they must find the three eyed raven, but Osha is still adamant that she will not travel beyond the Wall. Eventually they reach a compromise – Osha will take Rickon to Jon Snow while Bran stays with Jojen and his sister.
Arya Stark escapes the Brotherhood’s captivity, but is once again captured, this time by the Hound. She struggles with her hatred of him while he tries to get her to Robb Stark to claim some money.
Sansa is still horrified by her upcoming nuptials. Shae tells Tyrion that their relationship will end with his marriage to Sansa. Margaery, who has become a great source of comfort to Sansa, assures her that she is lucky to receive Tyrion as a husband. Neither Tyrion nor Sansa enjoy their wedding much, but eventually some form of a rapport does develop.
Gendry arrives at Dragonstone with Melisandre. Stannis has an inkling his favourite witch is up to no good and he releases Davos to stop her, but not harm her. They are just in time to stop Melisandre from sacrificing Gendry for his Baratheon blood, and he is thrown into a cell.
Daenerys arrives at the Yunkai and learn that the Second Sons, a mercenary company, are employed there. She meets the lieutenants of the company, all but one are very rude. Daario Naharis kills his fellow leaders and offers his company to Daenerys. Her army soon takes over Yunkai and Daenerys once again gives the slaves in the city the option to be free or follow her.
Bran and Jon are eventually a few feet apart but Jojen convinces Bran to not let Jon know they are there because it means they will never find the three eyed raven. Bran saves Jon’s life after Jon refuses to kill an innocent man. Jon escapes and Ygritte is furious that he left her behind.
Yara Greyjoy decides to save her brother, but Theon is not himself anymore and eventually she gives up hope. Sam and Gilly finally reach Castle Black and Gilly is allowed to stay and care for the men. When Ygritte sees Jon again she shoots him, and he arrives injured at Castle Black. With Jon and Sam back, Westeros can finally be alerted of the existence of the White Walkers. The news reaches Stannis Baratheon first, and Melisandre says that fighting the Walkers is their most important task.
Rating: 7.5/10
I went in with high hopes for season three, bolstered by the excellence of season one and two. High hopes are often dashed, and mine were just a bit damaged by the slow pace of season three. The story was as good as always, but the characters constantly seemed to be waiting for something to happen.
The last three episodes of the season completely exploded. I left out the big plot twist to spare anyone who hasn’t seen Season three yet. Let me just say I was gobsmacked and screaming and even angrier than when Ned Stark got executed back in Season One. Hint: I HATE MR. FILCH SO MUCH.
Daenerys once again just keeps on climbing the awesome ladder. She occasionally frustrated me in season two, but I thoroughly enjoyed her uncompromising attitude in Season Three. I really liked the inclusion of Daario Naharis. The actor that played him had something, not in looks but in attitude that just smacked of Khal Drogo. The girl has fine taste in men!
I used to be a sympathiser with Stannis, but not anymore. For the first two seasons I thought he was just a man being bamboozled by Melisandre, but he finally showed the full extent of his douchery by his treatment of his scarred daughter. His wife is a thorough nut, and I DO sympathise with him for being married to her.
The girl power in GoT rocks so much. My favourite ass kicking ladies are naturally Daenerys and then Margaery Tyrell, who impressed me so much. I thought she was mad for willingly becoming betrothed to Joffrey, but after a while I could see that she would perhaps be the only person on the planet that could control the @#$%. She furthered endeared herself to me by being so nice to Sansa, who REALLY needed a friend. I also like Arya Stark. That little girl is such a Stark and she just won’t give up and I respect her so much for it.
Some relationships were so sweet and some so annoying. I absolutely adored the love between Talisa and Robb Stark, and the whole Gillie and Sam thing. Shae and Tyrion had something going that was sweet, but eventually I didn’t like Shae’s attitude at all. I did not like Ygritte’s terrifying obsession with Jon Snow. Seriously, I get the addiction to Kit Harrington completely, but wow that was a bit overly attached girlfriend there!
Have you seen the third season? What did you think?
Life of this city girl 